Rail-Hawks
by SoaringGryphonProductions
Summary: During Equestria's Industrial Revolution, the Griffon Kingdom and Griffonstone became an important railway terminal for sending goods and passengers between the Griffon Kingdom and all of Equestria. The hippogriffs Wilhelmina and Heloise with their 'Coal-Canaries' make it work.
1. Chapter 1

**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**

**Rail-Hawks**

**Chapter 1: All Aboard! (The Griffonstone Railways)**

The Griffon Kingdom is growing, and with growth comes industry. I got to be a part of that growth and prosperity in the Kingdom. From the rush of steam to pulling passengers and freight from the kingdom and into Equestria, the new lines became the vitals to the kingdom in transportation and even luxury. My name is Heloise. I work on the railroad.

Together with my best friend Wilhelmina, we are conductors on our own locomotives, and serve the kingdom. Wilhelmina and I are both hippogriffs, and we are as strong and beautiful as the very locomotives we work on. Wilhelmina is a harpy eagle and dapple grey mare with a black mare's tail. I am a golden saker mixed with a gold gypsy vanner.

Together we are some of the best train conductors or 'Rail-Hawks' in the kingdom. Wilhelmina runs the Griffonstone-Cantorlot #462, a 4-8-2 'Mountain' locomotive. I run the Griffonstone-Appleloosa #540 which is also a 4-8-2 'Mountain' locomotive. Our locomotives are painted in a shade of black and silver. We take care of our locomotives like family.

The day for us starts early before the sun comes up. Wilhelmina and I meet in the rail yards to get our schedules. After a nice quiche for breakfast and some coffee, we meet up with our 'Coal-Canaries' or fire-griffons. For Wilhelmina, hers is a former mail-delivery griffon that found excitement on the rails, Gabby. Mine is a former archivist named Glenda.

"So what've we got today?" asked Gabby,

"We got the Appleloosa Mail today," said Billie,

"I'll get her stoked and ready," said Gabby with a salute and a shovel. Glenda and I were pulling the Cantorlot Express since the engine that was supposed to pull it today has a cracked front truck wheel. As I got my revised schedule, Glenda was talking with Gabby about plans for after the morning shift, mostly involving lunch which sounds quite lovely

Once the oil pressure was just right, and I checked the gauges and pulled the levers, it was time to go. I tipped my conductor's hat to Billie as I exited the rail yard to pick up the Cantorlot Express from the Griffonstone Grande Palace Station. Built in 1851, the plate glass and steel station is also an exhibition hall, and a popular social spot for griffons.

Every time I come here, I can't help but admire it's splendor from a time that has passed, but is not forgotten. I guided my engine into the terminal to be coupled to a line of passenger cars, ten of them to be precise, "All aboard, have your tickets ready please," said the ticket-collector on this trip named Galena, a nice griffon if you get to know her.

Ponies, griffons, and all manner of species got onto the train and into their seats in the cars. Once I saw the signal and all the passengers were seated and comfortable, Glenda and I started back up the engine. White steam wheeshed, and dark grey smoke puffed from the stack. I pulled the whistle to signal that we are off to Cantorlot with the Express.

"Wahoo!" cheered Glenda, taking in the breeze,

"Much better than being an archivist, no?" I joked,

"You said it!" said Glenda over the noise of the iron pistons and engine working hard, and steaming down the track. The passengers see the sights of the kingdom from majestic prairie lands and forests to rivers and lakes. I looked at my watch seeing we will make it on time to Cantorlot. The crank pins and main rods moved in it's own mechanical dance.

It's always a joy to see the faces of the ponies and young griffons as we pass by towns and villages along the line. You wave to them, and give them a blow of the whistle. The cheers they give back always warm my heart. Right now, the locomotive is going at a smooth 60mph, but can go at a maximum of 70mph. Let me tell you, the big girl can run.

Glenda is the kindest and most thoughtful griffon I know. I am sure Wilhelmina can say the same for Gabby. When we go on trips to Cantorlot pulling the Express, Glenda always seems to have something to share and make the trip smoother. She brought a thermos of coffee, and some buttered toast, "You really know how to make the dawn shift better"

"It's a long trip from Griffonstone, Big Bird, I thought we could use a snack," Glenda replied, and offered me a piece of toast. It takes a couple hours to get from Griffonstone to Cantorlot by rail so refreshments are always offered in the passenger cars from drinks to light snacks. The overnight trips always come with breakfast, snacks, lunch, and supper.

We were on time in Cantorlot, "Right on queue,"

"Since when are we ever late?" Glenda questioned,

"Never," I said with a grin, winking back to her. We led our engine to be coupled off the passenger cars in the Royal Rail-Yards, and chuffed the mighty 'Challenger' to the water tower for a drink. While there, Glenda and I had a drink of our own of coffee with cream and sugar. We even shared with a few of the worker-ponies in the rail-yard that morning

Glenda is my best friend. If something were to happen to me, I can count on her to run this locomotive the same way I do. To all the passengers, Glenda and I will always do our best to get you to your destination safe and sound. We both hope you enjoyed your trip. I apologize for this inconvenience, but this line does not offer passenger cinema service.

**(Author Note: The locomotives are modeled after St. Louis-Southwestern No. 977)**


	2. Chapter 2

**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**

**Rail-Hawks**

**Chapter 2: Coal and Oil (Classes all their Own)**

Variety is the spice of life. It is either oil or coal that gives our locomotives their life on the tracks. Besides our mighty 'Mountain' locomotives, there are more classes and types of locomotives in the Griffon Kingdom Rail-Yards. Each one has their jobs to do around the Lingdoms of Equestria, transporting goods and passengers to where they need to go.

The Griffonstone-Cantorlot #462 and Griffonstone-Appleloosa #540 are the prides of the Griffon Kingdom Railways, but they are not the only engines. Each engine we have in service is taken care of with the utmost care and attention to detail. Along with the 'Mountain' locomotive, some other favored locomotives are the 'Hudson' and 'Pacific' type

An example are the engines #260 through #265, they are 4-6-4 'Hudson' type engines. From their standard silver and black paintwork, they are known as the 'Golden Eagles' because of the brass golden eagle hood ornament in front of the engine just behind the bell. These engines carry freight and passengers on the Griffonstone-Manehattan line.

The 4-6-2 'Pacific' type is another locomotive that does a lot of work. An example are the engines #370 through #375 known as the 'Blackbirds'. Mountain locomotives often take lines going through the rolling prairies and flatlands, the 'Pacific' and 'Hudson' types go through the mountains and hills. The 'Blackbirds' run the Fillydelphia-Kingdom line.

Board a passenger car on a 'Blackbird' or 'Golden Eagle', and the view out the window is worth every bit you paid for your ticket. I am not the only one who works with these mighty machines in the yard. Since the railroad started growing in the Kingdom, lots of griffons began to find jobs as well. Many griffons became Rail-Hawks and Coal-Canaries.

An example is Gilda and her 'Coal-Canary' Greta, "Big day out there?"

"You know it, Gilda," I replied back, taking a seat on the cowcatcher.

"Cool, what did you girls get to pull today?" asked Glenda curiously,

"Same here, we got to transport sugar to a candy factory," said Greta,

"How lovely," I said with a grey-beaked grin as it was time for lunch. Glenda was coming out of the cab to join me for some soup and sweet cornbread. Lunch came in the form of kielbasa corn chowder from me and homemade cornbread from Greta. A nice hearty meal for the big, rugged, strong griffons and hippogriffs that make these rail-lines move.

We Rail-Hawks and Coal-Canaries have our own family at the sheds. There is friendship between griffon and hippogriff. The griffons that work around here call Wilhelmina and I the 'Big Birds'. Around here, the griffon Genevieve has a Coal-Canary in Giselle and Gallus has one in pig-tails and glasses named Gretchen. They call themselves the 'Blue Birds'

It warms my heart to see Glenda at the yards every morning. She commits herself to waking up before the sun comes up, and coming to work on time. Even if she is a little late, I won't scold her. Things happen that cannot always be avoided, "I'm curious," I said to Glenda as we all were enjoying lunch, "what made you join the rail service?" I asked her,

"Well, the archive I worked at was not far from the Griffonstone-Appleloosa line, I would look out the window and see the trains go by, you hear the puff of the engine, hear the whistle blow, and the steam and smoke from the stacks, I felt like I was missing out, like something in my life was missing, so I joined up...and then I met you," she explained,

"No regrets on meeting you either," I replied as we concluded lunch, and got back to work. Today we were taking our engine to have a monthly wash down. With some of the trains she pulls, our engine does need cleaning and polishing up to look good on the job. You would be surprised on how much sot cakes onto the iron and steel of a locomotive.

"Need a little help there, Big Bird?" asked Gallus with an extra brush,

"For Griffonstone's finest, you might need an extra brush," said Gretchen,

"It's not just us, we all are," said Glenda as we got to work cleaning,

The engines in Equestria are just like ours. The ponies have their preferred types they use the same way we do. In Equestria, the ponies often use the 'Pacific' and 'Mountain' type locomotives. Some of them are streamlined, and those are a sight to see on the rails. They are fast too, and can keep up with us on the rails though we don't race for sport.

After lunch, Glenda came up to me with our schedule from the controller, "We got a special waiting for us, a big one," said Glenda, our 'Mountain' was ready for a challenge. I went up with her to see the special, a train of 50 cars. Some of them are double-stacked container cars, a few tanker cars of water and oil, a few box cars, and a few grain cars

The Janney couplers were fastened to the tender. I looked to Glenda to see that confident grin on her beak, "Let's do this," I said as we climbed into the cab. The temperatures and pressures on the gauges looked good, and we are off to take this train to the destinations that it needed to go to. Getting her up to speed at 43mph, she is a sight to behold

**(Note: the 'Golden Eagles' are modeled after the NdeM No. 2708 to give the Griffon Railways some class. The 'Blackbirds' are modeled after the Reading & Northern 425. Some influences for Equestrian Engines are the Rutland Railroad No. 90, Florida East Coast Railway No. 113 and Savannah & Atlanta No. 750)**


End file.
